International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)

ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-2, Issue-4, September 2013

Optimum Design of Reinforced Concrete Flat Slab

with Drop Panel
Kiran S. Patil, N.G.Gore, P.J.Salunke

Abstract— In this present study optimum design of reinforced

concrete flat slab with drop panel according to the Indian code (IS A flat slab may be solid slab or may have recesses formed on
456-2000) is presented. The objective function is the total cost of the soffit so that the soffit comprises a series of ribs in two
the structure including the cost of slab and columns. The cost of directions. The recesses may be formed by removable or
each structural element covers that of material and labour for permanent filler blocks.
reinforcement, concrete and formwork. The structure is modelled Gupta et al. (1993) described computer aided design of flat
and analysed using the direct design method. The optimization slab-column-footing structure. Ronaldo et al. (1999)
process is done for different grade of concrete and steel. The proposed a theoretical model for analyzing the punching
comparative results for different grade of concrete and steel is
resistance of reinforced flat slabs with shear reinforcement for
presented in tabulated form. Optimization for reinforced concrete
flat slab buildings is illustrated and the results of the optimum and concentric loading. M.G. Sahab et al. (2005) had presented
conventional design procedures are compared. The model is Cost optimization of reinforced concrete flat slab buildings
analysed and design by using MATLAB software. Optimization is according to the British Code of Practice (BS8110).
formulated is in nonlinear programming problem (NLPP) by Vikunjetal. (2011) presented cost comparison between flat
using sequential unconstrained minimization technique (SUMT). slabs with drop and without drop in four storey lateral load
resisting building. Galebet al. (2011) presented optimum
Keywords—Flat slab, Reinforced concrete, Structural design of reinforced concrete waffle slabs. Adedeji(2011) had
optimization, Punching shear stress, slab size, drop panel size.
presented application: simplifying design of RC flat slab
using taboo search.
I. INTRODUCTION
Common practice of design and construction is to support II. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
the slabs by beams and support the beams by columns. This The structural analysis of flat slab systems can be carried
may be called as beam slab construction. The beams reduce out using the direct design method and adopted by Indian
the available net clear ceiling height. Hence in ware houses, code (IS 456-2000).
offices and public halls sometimes beams are avoided and
slabs are directly supported by columns. These slabs which In direct design method, a flat slab building having a
are directly supported by columns are called flat slab shown in rectangular column layout is divided into a series of
“Fig. 1” longitudinal and transverse plane. Each frame consists of a
row of equivalent columns and beams representing columns
and strips of slabs bounded laterally by centre lines of panels
adjacent to columns. In each direction, edge and middle
equivalent frames are structurally analyzed to obtain the total
bending moments and shear forces at different sections of
slabs. These slab panels are loaded with the full uniform
gravity dead and imposed loads over the width of panels. It is
assumed that the width of beams is divided into two strips,
namely column and middle strips. The average bending
moment over each strip is obtained as a percentage of the total
bending moment at each section. The required reinforcement
in each slab section is calculated according to the design
Fig.1 Typical shape of flat slab with drop panel
bending moment obtained in each section of column and
middle strips as shown in “Fig. 2”
A reinforced concrete slab supported directly by concrete
columns without the use of beams. Flat slabs are highly
versatile elements widely used in construction, providing
minimum depth, fast construction and allowing flexible
column grids. The term flat slab means a reinforced concrete
slab with or without drops, supported generally without
beams, by columns with or without flared column heads.

Manuscript received on September, 2013.

Mr.Kiran S. Patil, (M.E. student) Civil Engg. Dept., M.G.M. College of
Engineering & Tech., Kamothe, Navi Mumbai. India.
Prof. N. G. Gore, (Guide) Civil Engg. Dept., M.G.M. College of
Engineering & Tech., Kamothe, Navi Mumbai. India.
Prof. P. J. Salunke, (Guide) Civil Engg. Dept., M.G.M. College of Fig.2 Typical arrangement of column and drop panel
Engineering & Tech., Kamothe, Navi Mumbai., India.

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 Optimum Design of Reinforced Concrete Flat Slab with Drop Panel

It should be noted that the current analysis is restricted to IV. DESIGN OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE
rectangular plan form buildings. In case of an irregular plan Definition: “The process of finding the conditions that gives
form, the direct design method cannot be used and other more the maximum or minimum value of the function”.
accurate techniques such as the finite element method should
be applied instead. In addition, geometrical non-linearity in
the form of interaction between axial loads and deflections of
columns is negligible as the height of flat slab buildings
considered in the present study is small.

III. DESIGN VARIABLES AND CONSTRAINTS

A. Design variables
A design alternative option, which defines a complete design Fig.3 Structural Optimization Flow Chart
of a flat slab with drop panel, includes the following decision
variables: The optimum cost design of Flat slab with drop panel
X1= Effective depth of slab. formulated in is nonlinear programming problem (NLPP) in
X2=Overall depth of drop from top of slab=Dd. which the objective function as well as constraint equation is
X3=No. of span required in longer direction. nonlinear function of design variables. In SUMT the
X4=No. of span required in shorter direction. constraint minimization problem is converted into
unconstraint one by introducing penalty function. In the
B. Constraint equations present work is of the form.
The restrictions that must be satisfied to produce an f(x, r) is the penalty function f(x) is the objective function
acceptable design are called design constraints. r is the non-negative penalty parameter, and m is the total
number of constraints. The penalty function (x, r) is
No of span constraint in x direction
minimized as an unconstrained function of x and r, for a fixed
G1= (2/X3)-1 <1
value of r. The value of r is reduced sequent rained and the
No of span constraint in y direction
G2= (2/X4)-1 <1
Length constraint
G3=(Ly/ (2*Lx))-1 <1
Minimum depth constraint
G4=(Ly/ (26*X1))-1 <1
Depth constraint
G5= (125/St)-1 <1
Load constraint
G6= wl/ (3*wd)-1 <1
Stiffness check in y direction
G7= (aymin/ ay)-1 <1
Stiffness check in x direction
G8= (axmin/ ax)-1 <1
Moment constraint in slab
G9= (Mposmax/Mslab)-1 <1
Moment constraint in drop
G10= (Mnegmax/Mdrop)-1 < 1
Constraint of shear check in slab Fig.4 flow chart for the interior penalty function method
G11= (Tvn/Tvper)-1 <1 sequence of minima obtained converges to the constrained
Constraint of shear check in drop minimum of problems as r 0. The present optimization
G12= (Tvn1/Tvper1)-1 <1
problem is solved by the interior and exterior penalty function
Constraint of check of punching method. The method is used for solving successive
G13= (Pact/Pper)-1 <1
unconstrained minimization problems coupled with cubic
Where Lx=span in shorter direction, Ly= span in longer
interpolation methods of on dimensional search. The program
direction, St=Overall depth of flat slab, wl=Total live load,
developed S. S. RAO for SUMT is used for the solution of the
wd=Total dead load, ay= stiffness coefficient in longer
direction, ax= stiffness coefficient in shorter direction, problem. The program is written in MATLAB language.
Mposmax=Max. Positive bending moment, Mslab=Provided
moment in slab, Mnegmax=Max. negative bending moment, V. DIFFERENT CONDITIONS AND PARAMETERS
Mdrop=Provided moment in drop, τvn= Nominal shear stress FOR ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
for slab, τvper = Permissible shear stress for slab, τvn1= For comparative study consideration following parameter are
Nominal shear stress for drop, τvper1= Permissible shear consider for different results.
stress for drop, Pact = Actual Punching shear, Fck =Characteristic strength of concrete
Pper=Permissible Punching shear. = M20, M25, M30.

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 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-2, Issue-4, September 2013

Fy=Characteristic strength of steel as many constraints as there are the design variables in
= Fy415, Fy500. the problems.
Ccost=Cost of concrete. (Including formwork and Actual percentage of the saving obtained for optimum
labour charges)(As per District Schedule Rate design for flat slab depends upon the number of span of
(Maharashtra-Raigad Region 2013)) slab, grade of steel and grade of concrete.
M20=7302 Rs./m3 Maximum cost savings of 33.91% over the normal design
M25=8580 Rs./m3 is achieved in case of flat slab with drop panel.
M30=8647 Rs./m3 The optimum cost for a flat slab is achieved in M20 grade
Scost=Cost of steel (Including labour charges) (As of concrete and fe415 grade of steel.
per District Schedule Rate (Maharashtra-Raigad The cost of flat slab unit increased rapidly with respect
Region 2013)) grade of concrete increases and grade of steel increases
Fy415=64 Rs. /Kg whereas cost of flat slab decreases as the number of span
Fy500=65.8 Rs. /Kg increases by keeping total length of slab constant.
Total span= 20m X 20m, 25m X 25m, 30m X 30m, The percent reduction in optimum cost for a flat slab is
35m X 35m, 40m X 40m. directly proportion to number of span increases.

VI. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES REFERENCES

For different conditions and start from starting point and [1] R.C.Gupta and Dr. M.R.Sethia “computer aided design of flat
slab-column-footing structure”, The Bridge and Structural
end with optimized point the result shown in graphical form as Engineering. Vol.23 (1) pp.39-54. 1993.
below. [2] Ronaldo B. Gomes and Paul E. Regan,”Punching Resistance of RC
(Typical format of graph shown here for Span=20mX20m, Flat Slabs with Shear Reinforcement”, Journal of Structural
Grade of concrete=20, Grade of steel=415) Engineering, Vol.125 (6), pp- 684-692. 1999.
[3] M.G. Sahab, A.F. Ashour, And V.V. Toropov “Cost optimisation of
reinforced concrete flat slab buildings”, Engineering
Structures.Vol.27 pp.313–322. 2005.
[4] K.M.A. Hossain, And O. Olufemi “Design optimization of simply
supported concrete slabs by finite element modeling”, Struct. Multidisc
Optimization.Vol.30, pp.76–88. 2005.
[5] H.S. Kim, And D.G.Lee “Efficient analysis of flat slab structures
subjected to lateral loads” Engineering Structures Vol.27 pp.251–263.
2005.
[6] N. Subramanian “Evaluation and enhancing the punching shear
resistance of flat slabs using HSC”, The Indian Concrete Journal, Vol.
79(5), pp.31-37. 2005.
[7] S.S.F. Mehanny, B.M. Sobhy and M.M. Bakhoum “Strength versus
drift limitation effects on code compliant seismic-resistant flat slab
buildings”, The Indian Concrete Journal .vol.36 (6) pp.-1-2. 2008.
Fig.5 Typical graph for the points of optimization [8] Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Aurelio Muttoni, and Jakob Kunz,
“Strengthening of Flat Slabs Against Punching Shear Using
Post-Installed Shear Reinforcement”, ACI Structural Journal, Vol.107
The problem of cost optimization of flat slab with drop (4), pp. 434-442. 2010.
panel has been formulated as mathematical programming [9] M.A. Eder, R.L. Vollum, A.Y. Elghazouli, T. Abdel-Fattah “Modelling
and experimental assessment of punching shear in flat slabs with
problems. The resulting optimum design problems are
spearheads”, Engineering Structures.Vol.32, pp.3911–3924. 2010.
constrained non-linear programming problems and have been [10] Vikunj k.Tilva Prof. B.A.Vyas and Assit.Prof. Parth Thaker “Cost
solved by SUMT. Parametric study with respect to different comparison between flat slabs with drop and without drop in four
type of spans and grade of concrete combinations of flat slab storey lateral load resisting building”, National Conference on Recent
Trends in Engineering & Tech. pp1-5. 2011.
sections has been carried out. The result of optimum design [11] Adeola A Adedeji “Application: simplifying design of RC flat slab
for flat slabs have been compared and conclusions drawn. using taboo search”, Trends in applied science research (Academic
Journals Inc.)Vol.6 (4) pp 375-385.2011.
It is possible to formulate and obtain solution for the [12] I.S: 456-2000.
minimum cost design for flat slab with drop panel. [13] “Engineering Optimization” by S.S. Rao
Interior penalty function method can be used for solving
resulting non-linear optimization problems. For flat slab
thickness and thickness if drop panel, the chosen values Mr. Kiran S. Patil, (M.E.-Strucural- student) Civil Engg.
of initial penalty parameter “r0” and reduction factor “C” Dept., M.G.M. College of Engineering & Tech., Kamothe,
worked satisfactorily. Navi Mumbai. Mob No: 09221514855,
Exterior penalty function method can be used for solving
resulting non-linear optimization problems. For flat slab
the number of span in x and y direction the chosen values Prof. N. G. Gore, (M.Tech.-Strucural Engineering-Guide) Civil Engg. Dept.,
of initial penalty parameter “r0” and additive factor “C” M.G.M. College of Engineering & Tech., Kamothe, Navi Mumbai
worked satisfactorily.
Prof. P. J. Salunke, (M.Tech.- Environmental Engineering-Guide) Civil
It is possible to obtain the global minimum for the Engg. Dept., M.G.M.College of Engineering & Tech.,Kamothe,Navi
optimization problem by starting from different starting Mumbai .
points with the interior penalty function method.
The minimum cost design of flat slab is fully constrained
design which is defined as the design bounded by at least

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